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Copper prices fall on the back of weak Chinese data but losses are capped by concerns about supply
Copper prices fell on Wednesday, despite disappointing economic data from China's top metals consumer. However, supply concerns due to mine disruptions and the Middle East conflict helped to limit losses. The benchmark three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.2%, to $13,610 per metric ton at 0945 GMT. It had reached a three week high in the previous session. Official data revealed that the GDP growth of China, the second largest economy in world, has slowed to a low of 3.5 years, due to weak domestic demand. Ole Hansen is the head of commodity strategy for Saxo Bank, a Copenhagen-based bank. Hansen said that the downside of the market was limited, in part due to persistent supply problems. The Shanghai Futures Exchange's most traded copper contract pared earlier gains and ticked 0.1% higher, to 104 220 yuan (15,392.11) per ton. Rio Tinto reported a 7% drop in copper production for the quarter ending June. The company said that a furnace failure at its U.S. Kennecott Mine will affect production during the second half. Hansen said, "We continue to be reminded of the potential risks on the supply-side and the high prices for energy will just increase the focus on electricification." The oil prices rose by another 2% on Tuesday after the U.S. reinstated a naval embargo on all Iranian ports, and Iran threatened to close other export routes. Hansen stated that "the long-term bullish'story for copper has most definitely not been negatively affected by the events in the last few months." Other metals include?LME Aluminium, which fell by 0.5% to $3.160 per ton. Zinc also dropped by 1%, to $3.561, while lead was down 0.6% at $1.855. Nickel was down 0.2% at $16,740, and tin lost 0.9%, to $53,340.
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Germany launches water monitoring system after Rhine drought strikes industry
On Wednesday, Germany launched a national information system to monitor water levels in the country. The aim is to better manage water supplies as climate change puts more pressure on Europe's biggest economy. Thyssenkrupp is forced to cut production due to a drought on the Rhine, highlighting the importance of the new platform. Carsten Schneider, Minister of the Environment, said that "Water is our most precious resource" when he launched the Low Water Information System (NIWIS). Schneider, citing studies, warned that if Germany does not take action, water scarcity will cost it EUR625 billion ($714billion) by 2050 or EUR25billion annually. ECONOMIC IMPACT Schneider stated that Germany has lost 60 billion cubic meters of water in the last?25 years as a result of climate change. He said that water availability is becoming an important factor in business decision-making. The debate over attracting data centres or tech companies is not just about skilled workers and energy anymore, but also about water availability. The NIWIS platform consolidates data from federal and state sources on river levels, soil moisture and groundwater, replacing a patchwork system of regional systems. RHINE DISRUPTION Low Rhine water levels have caused cargo transport to be disrupted. Thyssenkrupp said that on Wednesday it had'slightly reduced blast furnace production because of restricted raw materials supplies and suspended their own barge operations. Water?levels at Kaub near Koblenz in western Germany, were 42 cm (16 inches) high on Tuesday. They are expected to continue falling. The record low of 25 cm was achieved in October 2018. Munich, Germany’s southern metropolis, has implemented water restrictions until 1 August following heatwaves. Violations can result in fines up to EUR50,000. $1 = 0.8754 Euros (Reporting and editing by Rene Wagner and Kirsti Knolle)
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Rate outlook is clouded by inflation fears and gold falls as tensions in the Middle East fuel inflation concerns
Gold prices fell on Wednesday as escalating tensions continued in the Middle East to fuel inflation concerns, thereby reinforcing expectations for higher U.S. rates. Spot gold dropped 0.7%, to $4.027.49 an ounce at 0843 GMT. Prices rose by over 2% on Tuesday to a high of $4100.19 an ounce, after weak U.S. inflation figures. U.S. gold futures for August delivered?slid by 0.9% to $4.035.00. After Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, and after the U.S. imposed a naval ban on Iranian ports, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran threatened to shut all export corridors that would benefit Washington. After closing at an all-time high on Tuesday, oil prices have risen. The UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said that higher U.S. crude prices, gasoline and diesel will lead to high inflation figures in the next print of August. This could keep some Fed officials' tone on the hawkish, which does not help gold. In the short term, oil and gasoline prices in the U.S. will continue to have an impact on gold. It remains a major driver of U.S. inflation." Staunovo?added. Gold is affected by higher interest rates, which increase the cost of owning the asset. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said on Tuesday that the central bank has "no tolerance" for persistently high inflation, hinting at the fact that CPI data is not so good. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, traders are pricing in a 59% probability of a rate increase in September. Investors are now awaiting the U.S. Producer Price Index due today at 1230 GMT for?insights on inflation levels and monetary policy outlook. Silver spot fell 0.5%, to $58.314 an ounce, while platinum rose 0.2%, to $1,634.36. Palladium increased 0.8% to $1315.05 after rising 5% the previous session. (Reporting by Sukanya Mitra in Bengaluru; Editing by Diti Pujara)
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China's aluminium production in June sets a monthly record, as exports soar
Data showed that China's primary aluminum output reached a record monthly high in June. This was because consumers shifted to China after the Middle East supply was affected by the U.S.-Iran war. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that in June, the world's biggest aluminium producer produced 3,98 million metric tonnes of primary aluminum, an increase of 4.7% compared to a year ago. This was higher than the previous high of 3,89 million metric tons recorded in May. The data revealed that the output during the first half of 2026 increased 3.8% from a year ago to 23,19 million tons. China's yearly production limit is 45 million tons. Customs data revealed that exports of aluminium and aluminium products topped 711,000 tonnes in June. This was the first time monthly shipments exceeded 700,000 ton. Exports increased by 12.5% in May, and 45.4% in June of last year. The first-half shipment rose 16.3%, to 3.4 millions tons. Early in June, the benchmark three-month aluminum on the London Metal Exchange reached a four-year-high of $3,724 per?ton, as the Iran War sparked supply concerns out of the Gulf Region, which represented about 9%?of global supplies. The contract ended the month of June with a loss of almost 16% as tensions subsided and Washington and Tehran signed a peace agreement. This month, the relief has dissipated after hostilities again simmered and threatened to boil. LME aluminum?was 2% or more higher in July. Other data show that Chinese production of nonferrous metals - copper (aluminum), lead (zinc), tin, antimony, mercury (mercury), magnesium, titanium, and nickel -- rose 3.9% from the previous year to 7.19 millions metric tons. The year-to-date production was up 3.3% to 41.51 millions metric tons. Reporting by Dylan Duan, Lewis Jackson and Harikrishnan Nair; editing by Harikrishnan Nair
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Peru approves $2.8 billion budget increase ahead of Fujimori's transition
The Peruvian Congress approved a?budget increase of $2.8 billion late on Tuesday to help fund infrastructure projects and essential services. This is a financial boost ahead of the July 28th inauguration of President elect Keiko Fujimori. The measure was approved by the Permanent Commission of the legislature with 17 votes for and 5 against. It will also fund safety measures in case of heavy El Nino rainfall. * Around half of the new funds will be used to complete public works?to ensure essential service. The remainder will go towards salaries for the public sector, crime initiatives?and flood prevention infrastructure. * The measures are aimed at preventing El Nino, a climate phenomenon that could cause widespread flooding in the agricultural and fisheries sectors. Fujimori stated on Thursday that she could issue emergency decrees in order to activate additional preventative measures. * Interim President Jose Balcazar declared a state of emergency for 60 days in almost 40% of Peruvian districts because of the imminent danger of intense El Nino rainfall. El Nino may cause Peru to lose 16 billion soles (about $4.70 billion) in the years 2026-2027. This is mainly because of damage to infrastructure along the northern coast. Last week, the Fiscal Council of Peru, an independent body that monitors the public finances, expressed "concerns" about the fiscal outlook, after reviewing the proposal for a supplementary credit. The council stated that the government chose to increase the budget, rather than use the unexpected windfall of revenue to create precautionary savings or to contain spending pressures. Despite the climate risks, Peru's central bank recently increased its economic growth forecast for this year from 3.2% to 3.4%, citing strong private investment and domestic demand.
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Investors prepare bids for CXMT's $8.6 Billion IPO, aiming to jump in valuation
Chinese investors who are interested in CXMT’s $8.6billion IPO believe that the chipmaker’s value will increase ten-fold following its Shanghai debut, thanks to an AI-driven upcycle and Beijing’s ambition to become technologically independent. CXMT or ChangXin Memory Technologies will be Asia's largest share sale this year. It comes at a time when Beijing wants to be independent in the semiconductor industry amid a fierce tech rivalry between the U.S. Wu Zhou, a Shenzhen Deyuan Investment fund manager, has said he'll bid on new CXMT share, betting China's leading memory chipmaker can one day overtake global giants such as South Korea's Samsung Electronics or SK Hynix. Wu said that CXMT's value will likely reach 3 trillion yuan (443.33 billion dollars) and even 5 trillion yuan after listing... adding that whoever wins lottery portion of IPO subscription will be able to make money. This compares to an IPO 'valuation' of 579.18 bn yuan, after the company priced its offering on Tuesday at 8.66 yuan per share. Retail and institutional investors will have one day to subscribe for the IPO - Thursday. According to sources with knowledge of the situation, its listing in Shanghai will take place on July 27. The sources declined to name themselves publicly as they were not authorized to speak with the media. CXMT has not yet officially revealed its debut schedule, despite the fact that it did not respond to requests for comment. Wu believes CXMT - China's largest maker of dynamic random access memory (DRAM), used in smartphones, servers, computer and other electronic devices - will "become a global giant", after a capacity expansion that is driven by AI. "If you look at Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix, they are all trillion-dollar-class companies despite the recent volatility," said Eddie Tam, ?chief investment officer at Hong Kong's Central Asset Investments. CXMT - is the fourth largest DRAM manufacturer in the world behind SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, and Micron. Tam stated that CXMT's IPO price is very low, even though China has been lagging behind the top players in DRAM technology and high-bandwidth memories (HBMs) for two to four years. He believes CXMT shares will "surge multiple-fold" in their first day of trading. INVESTOR FRENZY Yao Kai, fund manager of Shanghai Zhuangyan Private Fund Management said he would also bid on CXMT shares "to test luck", but is concerned that the listing may knock other tech stocks down. CXMT’s public offering is the largest by a Chinese chipmaker and represents Beijing’s latest attempt to channel capital to strategic industries vital to its rivalry against Washington. The company was designated by the U.S. Department of Defense as a 'Chinese Military Company' under the Biden Administration. It has stated that it intends to use the proceeds of the IPO to upgrade production and technology. According to a?filing made on Tuesday, if the over-allotment for the IPO was fully exercised, gross profits would reach approximately 66.6 billion yuan. "I will definitely subscribe for CXMT share. "It's a given," said Shanghai-based investment Chen Zhi. He added that the odds of winning shares are slim because China uses a lottery system to distribute new stock. CXMT released a statement Wednesday stating that the IPO price valued CXMT at more than 300 times the earnings for 2025 and approximately 5 times the book value. Some investors are concerned about the high?values of semiconductors, while others dismiss them, citing the booming demand for memories chips. Semiconductor manufacturing International Corp., China's largest contract chipmaker was listed in Shanghai on July 2020. The stock price almost halved in less than two months from its initial listing. Investors are putting their trust in CXMT’s earnings growth for the time being. CXMT reported a first-quarter revenue of 50.8 billion yuan. This is up 700% compared to a previous year. It also recorded a 25 billion yuan net profit, compared to a loss of 1.6 million yuan a year earlier, according its prospectus. Fund manager Wu believes CXMT will reach a profit of 100 billion yuan in this year. He said that the demand for memory will increase due to the rapid adoption of driverless cars and robots, as well as AI-based personal computers.
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Sources say that China refineries are opting for less expensive crude oil in order to reduce their fuel oil consumption.
China's fuel -oil demand will take a long time to recover after imports reached a monthly record low as refiners opted for lower cost crude following the U.S. -Iran War. Prices are expected to be capped by the lackluster appetite of one of Asia's largest importers of high sulphur fuel oils (HSFO), even though this market has strengthened after Washington and Tehran intensified their attacks in the Middle East disrupting Gulf oil supplies that pass through the Strait of Hormuz. LSEG data show that the Asian refiners’ margin for 380 centistoke HSFO rose to a discount of less than $2 a barge compared to Brent on Wednesday. This was the largest in over a month. The 380-cst HSFO cracked to Dubai rose a little more than $3.25 a bar. A trading source from a Chinese refiner who refused to be identified due to commercial sensitivity said: "Regular crude oil currently trades at ICE levels of minus 5 to minus 8 a barrel." Fuel oil cannot compete with this. After the conflict broke out, China's refinery run rates plummeted in June to a ten-year record low due to weak demand at home and export restrictions on refined oil products. The resulting 'decrease in demand for fuel oil as an alternative to crude oil has slowed down refineries. Imports hit a record low in May According to LSEG data dating back to 2004, China's total imports of fuel oil in May fell to a monthly record low of approximately 559,000 metric tonnes (115,000 barrels). They include HSFO refined at refineries and used in marine fuel. According to Vortexa's ship-tracking data for June, fuel oil imports totaled 700,000 to 800,00 tons. This is a slight increase from May, but still well below the typical volume. In the first quarter 2026, China's fuel imports were about 2.29 millions tons per month, while the monthly average for 2025 was 1.8 million tonnes. Analysts and traders said that fuel oil imports may have risen slightly in June and Jul, but they are mainly used for ship refuelling, not refineries. The Chinese refineries import fuel oil primarily from Russia, as well as the Singapore and Malaysia trading hub. According to Asian trading sources and refinery, the price of crude oil has also become more competitive. Traders said that spot offers for Russian straight-run oil fuel are currently tepid due to low interest in buying. Russian fuel exports are also down as Ukraine intensifies its attacks on Russian infrastructure. Chinese refiners are turning to discounted crude in order to use additional quotas for importing crude this year. Analysts said that while Beijing has eased the export restrictions for refined products, it is not clear whether this will lead to a rapid recovery in run rates or feedstock purchases.
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Data breach exposes files relating to India's largest Nuclear Power Plant Kudankulam
World Leaks, a ransomware group, has released on the dark Web a large cache of files relating to India's largest nuclear plant. These include purported blueprints for parts of its facilities as well as supplier details. The information was labelled by World Leaks as being from Reliance Group. Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant is located in the southern state of Tamil Nadu and is the largest among India's seven nuclear plants. It's also the center of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious plans to increase the country's capacity for?atomic energy?. Reliance Group of Indian businessman Anil Ambani, one of the plants' contractors, said in a press release that there was a "partial compromise" of their data on a server that is hosted by a third-party Indian provider of data centres, Yotta. The government has also been informed of the incident. Reliance has not disclosed what data was compromised. Nickolas Rot, senior director of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), which advises government and benchmarks country preparedness for nuclear security, believes that the data breach could present a "serious risk" to the safety at the plant. Hacking has become increasingly common in India where companies are not well-equipped to handle such threats. The documents were dated between 2016 and mid-2025. However, we could not verify their authenticity. They purportedly include blueprints, supplier details, meeting and inspection records as well as equipment reviews and insurance policy. The 19,000 files seemed to be the most sensitive out of the 858,000 Reliance documents on the World Leaks site. Reliance Infrastructure won the contract to design and construct the infrastructure for Unit 3 and Unit 4 of the plant in 2018. Reliance Infrastructure, one of the conglomerate's subsidiaries, won a contract in 2018 to design and build infrastructure for Unit 3 and Unit 4 at the plant. World Leaks did not answer any questions about the Reliance data breach. The group is well-known for targeting Nike and India's Tata Group. The group usually posts stolen corporate information on its website when companies refuse to pay the demanded ransom. The website is only accessible with a special browser. World Leaks announced in June that it had demanded $1.5 million for files belonging to the Tata Group that contained confidential designs of Apple and Tesla clients. It added that it released the data when Tata "ignored its"?demand. SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY ON SERVER MAY According to a source with knowledge of the situation, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, India's principal cybersecurity agency, has been in contact with Reliance regarding the breach. Source declined to identify themselves due to the sensitive nature of the matter. CERT-In, the main government press office and Nuclear Power Corporation chairman Rajesh Veeraraghavan did not respond to requests for comment. Yotta stated in a press release that it noticed suspicious activity on May 29, on a server hosted by it and owned by Reliance Infrastructure. The activity was stopped immediately and the ransomware was not executed, it said. However, Reliance Infrastructure informed them at the end June that "external threats actors" had claimed to have breached data. Yotta stated that it was unable to verify the claims made by the "threat-actor", but it added that they had shared their detailed technical investigation with Reliance Infrastructure, and supported an ongoing investigation. Modi's office declined to respond to questions, and the Department of Atomic Energy in India refused to comment. Blueprints and Insurance Policies World Leaks documents do not seem to be related to the core systems of nuclear reactors, which are supplied by Rosatom. The documents did include purported blueprints of the ventilation and cooling system used in Unit 3 & Unit 4 as well as what looked like the "complete floor plan" of a "common controls room". The files also included what appeared as vendor proposals, a supplier list, and an account of a meeting in 2024 about a joint Inspection by the Nuclear Power Corporation, Reliance with photos of equipment. A document claims to show Reliance Infrastructure, the Nuclear Power Corporation and others had purchased an insurance policy that would have entitled them to $112,000,000 if Unit 3 or Unit 4 suffered an act of terror. Researchers say that if the files were in the hands a bad actor, they could theoretically be used to map out the plant's systems of support, identify its suppliers, and pinpoint its weaknesses in security. Roth, from the Nuclear Threat Initiative, said that they could "show an enemy not only who has access but also which systems this access reaches." According to the cybersecurity company Surfshark, India is third on a list of countries that suffered the most data breaches. With 28,9 million compromised accounts?last year it was only behind the United States and France. In a report released last year, the Data Security Council of India (DSCI) and cybersecurity firm Seqrite found that 73% of the 204 organizations surveyed in India were "unaware" if they had ever been attacked. Meanwhile, 57% lacked cyber hygiene practices. In 2019, malware linked to a North Korean hacker team was found on the administrative network of the plant. The Nuclear Power Corporation at the time said that the matter was investigated instantly and the plant systems were unaffected. (Reporting from Munsif Vegattil, Bengaluru; Aditya Kalra, New Delhi; editing by Edwina G. Gibbs).
Officials say that Sinopec has established four new business units as part of a major revamp.
Officials at the company said that 'Sinopec' is undertaking a major restructuring within its own organization, establishing new business units, and moving hundreds of staff in order to re-establish profits amid a slumping Chinese demand for oil, petrochemicals, and other products.
Sinopec, a state-owned company, has lagged behind its peers PetroChina Ltd and CNOOC Ltd in recent years. These companies benefit from a greater focus on oil production.
Sinopec's reorganisation, which began in early this year, is aimed at focusing more on the needs of customers and efficiency. Chairman Hou Qijun was a geologist, and former general director at Chinese state oil company CNPC, who assumed office in June 2025.
This is one of the biggest reorganisations in recent years at a Chinese oil company. It comes as China's fuel demands are being eroded by rapid electrification of its transport fleets and chemical markets struggle with overcapacity.
Sinopec has set up four units as part of the plan. These are: Oil, Gas and New Energy; Finance and Strategic New Business; Refining, Chemicals and New Materials; and Customers and Supply Chain, said a representative in response to a question.
Sinopec Beijing's?headquarters? began operating under the new structure in this month. The broader reorganisation will be completed by the end of the year, according to the official, who declined to identify himself due to company policy.
"This does not mean laying people off, but rather reorganising the company into functional segments focused on delivering results. A second official at the company said that each will have direct authority over human resources and compensation schemes.
'QUALITY GROWTH'
Hou, in an article published last month by the Chinese Communist Party Magazine Qizhi wrote that Sinopec "is embarking on a second entrepreneurship of full scale" that promotes "quality" growth under a strategic centred on "innovation", 'industry transform and upgrade, securing resource and prioritising costs.
The article did not provide any information on restructuring.
Sinopec has a vast network of marketing teams for fuel, natural gases, and chemicals. Unipec is a trading company that operates internationally. The stockpiling division, which forms part of Beijing’s emergency reserves, also falls under this new supply chain segment.
Officials said that the refining unit and chemical unit will merge two operations to?improve integration? and?focus on new, higher-end materials. This reflects a shift in industry from transportation fuels to chemicals.
Sinopec and PetroChina, as well as smaller independent refineries known by the nickname teapots, are all removing "surplus capacity" by putting smaller, outdated facilities into storage.
The Finance and New Business Unit combines finance functions, leasing and insurance and will focus on financing new energy initiatives, such as batteries, hydrogen and carbon capture.
Two people who spoke to the media said that hundreds of employees will be relocating to other business units as a result of the?restructuring?.
Sinopec has more than a half million employees. Sinopec Corp, a listed company, operates crude refinery capacity of 5.2 million barrels a day and 31,000 service station across China. Reporting by Chen Aizhu, Editing by Tony Munroe & Jacqueline Wong
(source: Reuters)